American Go E-Journal

Round 4: Final Knockouts
After lunch on Friday, December 14, the players began to head for the playing room for the final games of the main men’s and women’s knockouts and six games in the repechage (loser’s) sections.The playing room was set up with the women’s games in the front row and the men’s games in back. The television cameras were trained on the game between Korea’s Park Jieun and Chinese Taipei’s Joanne Missingham in the women’s repechage. In the TV commentator’s booth just outside the playing room, Michael Redmond 9P (at left in photo) and American Go E-Journal Managing Editor — and IGS SAWMG Media Officer — Chris Garlock (right) were giving a live commentary — available on the SAWMG Channel — on this game for a worldwide audience on 54 platforms in countries from Afghanistan on down. The two players obliged them by playing at a brisk pace in the opening.For the second straight day China’s unbeaten Chen Yaoye found himself facing a Korean opponent. Today it was Choi Chulhan, also unbeaten in the World Mind Games. Click here for Ranka’s full report, which includes Round 4 results. photo by Ivan Vigano

Interview with Bill Lin: Canada’s Bill (Tianyu) Lin was one of the first four players to be eliminated, losing to China’s Jiang Weijie in round 1 and Chinese Taipei’s Lin Chun-yen in round 2. Lin was born in Ningbo, a city south of Shanghai and his family emigrated to Vancouver when he was ten. “My father had been crazy about go in his university days, and there was a go board in the house,” Lin says. “I became very interested in playing five-in-a-row, and then I started playing go. An amateur 5-dan named Fan Jiunling had a go school that I attended twice a week for four and a half years until we emigrated. By then I was an amateur 3 dan in China.” Click here to read James Davies’ complete interview on Ranka. photo: Bill Lin (right) playing against Jiang Weijie; photo by Ivan Vigano

This is a critical game because whoever loses will be knocked out; this is a double-elimination tournament and both players have one loss.

Joanne Missingham, born in Australia,lived in California for a few years and now represents Taipei; she’s also the official Go Ambassador at the SAWMG.

Park Jieun was one of the first Korean female players to really challenge Rui Naiwei when Rui was playing in Korea. So she’s been one of the top Korean players for quite a while now, and she’d be favored to win this match.